Some stories describe everything in numbers - his cock was 7.5 inches long, she was a 34C, he was 6'7" tall, she was 42 years old.
Some stories describe everything poetically - his cock was long and slim as a snake, her breasts were round little apples, he was taller than I was and forced me to look up to meet his eyes, she could have been as old as my mother.
My question is, which one do you prefer? Which one is more erotic? Which helps your mental movie more? I prefer the latter; when people list numbers as details my mind just skips over them. I'm not very good with numbers to begin with.
If you like the latter too, can you remember what your favourite description was?
Me personally I like an actual description more rather than numbers that bores me to be honest. I'd rather have a good visual
“I'm not one of those complicated, mixed-up cats. I'm not looking for the secret to life.... I just go on from day to day, taking what comes.”~Frank Sinatra~
There is certainly a place for numbers in certain stories, but I agree that it is usually unnecessary to be so explicit about dimensions. They don't really mean much to me and don't give me a great impression of how someone actually looks. I have never, in any of my stories, stated the length, size, height or weight of my character in numbers.
However, in the story I am writing just now, uncertainty about age is quite a central idea (both the youth of one character and 'maturity' of the other) so I have been using actual figures. I haven't found this detracts much from my descriptions.
I prefer the latter, though a limited amount of numbers is not a bad thing...saying "he was about 6 feet tall" is not bad, but if you start saying "he was about 6 foot 2 inches, 187 pounds approx, with a trim 33 inch waist" it starts to sound like you're writing a technical manual, and not an erotic story...
I've heard some people say they don't like too much description because they like to imagine themselves in the story, so for that reason they prefer the characters to be deliberately vague description wise...
I don't really do that myself, as far as put myself in the story when I read it...but, I do think authors should use numbers sparingly for the reasons I mentioned...
I think people use numbers on this site because they don't know how to write descriptively. (That is rather uncharitable, I admit.) A few numbers here and there are o.k.
Hi, Jingle. I'm not a writer, but I personally prefer poetry when reading descriptions. I sometimes feel like it breaks the mood when I read maths / measurements / vital statistics when reading a good erotic story.
I was a bit disappointed to see it was just descriptions with numbers vs good descriptions. When it comes to writing I prefer written descriptions as opposed to plain number measurements.
I was thinking we could start sort of a "sub thread" for people who prefer the numerical descriptions...
You know...the usual questions could be discussed...stuff like...
Do you prefer base ten measurements to binary?
How many places to the right of the decimal do you normally round off to?
Is scientific notation ever appropriate in a sex story?
When describing the angle of an erection, do you prefer degrees or radians?
I have no doubt that you could suggest a few more...
Hi Jingle. Have to say I prefer poetry to maths every time.
With the maths there can be misunderstandings and, of course, people can use numbers to their advantage. Which would you prefer? 152mm or 6 inches of cock? In Britain, for example, when some people talk about the temperature in the summer we use fahrenheit to emphasise it "It was 77 degrees yesterday". But in the winter the same people use celcius "Its minus 3!" to emphaisze how cold it is.
Would have to admit..I prefer poetry easily over math. Granted I don't really need a 500 word verse in ode to a cock in the middle of a story, I would read that as a separate item. I prefer to let my imagination do some of the work, perhaps bring back some very pleasant memory I had long left in the back of my mind ages ago.
It maybe a fault of mine . I prefer no description of things that can be imagined. Instead, I like to leave the picture open for personal interpretation leaving the description for the experience or motion of the story.
Torture the data long enough and they will confess to anything.
Unless the author is writing a technical manual, I think descriptions and similes are the way to go.
Having said that, and as one commenter has already said; sometimes even the description can be a little too detailed, leaving the reader feeling that he/she cannot be part of the story because the character is too far removed from the reader's reality.
. I prefer no description of things that can be imagined. Instead, I like to leave the picture open for personal interpretation leaving the description for the experience or motion of the story.